Chapter 253: Games That Were Never Games, Threats That Turn Into Silence, and a Queen Who Refuses to Blink First
Chapter 253: Games That Were Never Games, Threats That Turn Into Silence, and a Queen Who Refuses to Blink First
Elyn’s POV
I was very certain Zorathys was about to say something to Azerion.
Very certain.
The kind of certainty that sits at the back of your skull and hums, waiting for impact. I mean, he opened his mouth to obviously speak.
But then my head started ringing instead.
That single sentence—it would have worked—kept repeating itself in my mind like it was refusing to stay still.
It would have worked?
It would have worked?
I didn’t even realize I was staring until I felt my own gaze lock onto Azerion again, sharper this time.
And Zorathys... he didn’t speak. His mouth clamped up like he could perceive I wanted to say something, and instead he just stood there, waiting for me to finish whatever storm was forming inside my head.
I exhaled slowly and forced my expression into something resembling calm.
I smiled at Azerion. It was a controlled one. A very calm one... a very fake smile that shook at the edges due to the restraint I was holding on to.
"Azerion," I said gently.
He stiffened immediately.
That was expected, his gaze dropping to the floor.
"You joined them," I continued, still smiling, "to trick me."
There was a pause. A very small one.
Then he swallowed... audibly.
"It... it was a game," he said in a smaller voice than I had ever heard from him, "to see if you would find out who was who."
I blinked slowly.
A game. A game where they tricked me to find out who was who. A game where these children pretended to be their parents.
Because what else would it be in a room full of children, demons, and apparently no sense of self-preservation?
"And," he added quickly, "I only joined because the others wanted to meet you."
That made something in my expression tighten.
I tilted my head slightly.
"You could not," I asked carefully, "have suggested writing a letter instead?"
I was met with silence again. And I knew the answer—they didn’t think that way at all.
Azerion looked down.
Then Zayrion stepped forward.
"I started it," he said. "It’s all my fault, I planned everything."
Given what he did the previous day, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was really the mastermind, but there was something that suggested he wasn’t. Was he a part? Yes. But the mastermind? I doubted it.
Two children stepped forward next—the ones with pale blue hair, identical in structure, identical in presence, identical in the way they looked like they had inherited Caleth’s composure and decided to weaponize it in miniature form.
"It was our fault too," one of them said quickly.
"We planned everything," the other added.
Then the third boy—the one who had barely spoken, the one who had been staring at me the entire time like I was some kind of impossible equation—stepped forward too.
"It’s my fault too, I planned it," he said quietly.
Um... what was I supposed to do in this situation where it seemed they were all covering for each other?
Zorathys hummed lazily.
"What a display of camaraderie," he said.
He tilted his head slightly.
"It seems you are all ready to die then?"
The words hit the air and didn’t land properly in my mind at first.
My brain refused to accept them as real.
I turned sharply toward him.
"What?"
It came out faster than I intended.
Zorathys looked at me like I had just interrupted something mildly entertaining.
"I was merely considering the appropriate consequence," he said. "For tricking the highest power in the realm."
My stomach dropped slightly.
"Zorathys—"
"Anyone who plays a trick on the Queen," he continued calmly, "deserves death."
There was silence. The world narrowed.
I didn’t even realize I had moved until I was already in front of Azerion.
My irritation toward him vanished so quickly it startled even me.
Because suddenly this wasn’t about tricks or games or bad decisions.
It was about something else entirely.
"No," I said immediately.
Zorathys tilted his head.
"Why not?"
I turned fully toward him now.
"They are children."
I paused.
Then I added, firmer this time, "They play pranks."
His gaze didn’t shift.
"They are not children in the way you mean," he said calmly. "If they were humans, they would already be growing old, having grey hair too, I think. They are young because they are demons."
"That doesn’t make them any less children."
"They disrespected you," he said.
"They played a prank," I corrected.
"They targeted the Queen."
"They included me," I said simply, "in a game."
Another pause.
Then I stepped closer, just enough that there was no space left for misunderstanding.
"If even a hair on their heads is harmed," I said quietly, "you will not sleep for the rest of your life."
That made the air shift, just enough to feel it press against the edges of the room.
Zorathys stared at me.
Half-lidded ruby eyes locked directly onto mine.
For a moment, he looked almost... entertained.
Then he gave me a lazy smirk.
But before he could even speak, a voice cut through.
"I think the Queen is even scarier than she looks. And I have to admit, I love her already."
Silence snapped into place.
Every head turned at once.
Including mine.
The female of the blue-haired twins had a hand over her mouth.
Like she had meant to whisper... and let me tell you, what I just heard was not even close to a whisper.
It was like someone had given her a megaphone to announce to the whole realm that she liked me... sorry, she loved me.
And I was delighted, really... I mean not the fact that she thought I was scary, but the fact that she loved me.
I always knew I was lovable even from just a glance, and this just proves my point.
But I should have known that one person would take this the wrong way.
Zorathys tilted his head at an unnatural angle, and I swear I was scared out of my wits as to how he did it.
"What," he asked the girl calmly, "did you just say?"